Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability to multiply and infect new host organisms.

The more often a gene is differentially expressed, the more likely it is to contain disease-associated DNA variants.

In a study in the advance online publication of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University describe a technique for looking more precisely at a fundamental step of a cell's life — a gene, DNA, being read into a message, mRNA. The technique could provide a window into the process by which genes are switched on inappropriately, causing disease.

Hereditary information flows from parents to offspring not just through DNA but also through the millions of proteins and other molecules that cling to it. These modifications of DNA, known as "epigenetic marks," act both as a switch and a dial – they can determine which genes should be turned on or off, and how much message an "on" gene should produce.

Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.

From the sun's UVA rays to tobacco smoke, our environment is chock-full of DNA-damaging agents that can lead to cancer. Thanks to our body's DNA repair mechanisms, however, the effects of many carcinogens can be reversed thereby preventing the formation of tumours.

Researchers have carried out the largest study of differences between human and chimpanzee genomes, identifying regions that have been duplicated or lost during evolution of the two lineages. The study, published in Genome Research, is the first to compare many human and chimpanzee genomes in the same fashion.

In a paper published in Genome Research on Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) report that what was previously believed to be "junk" DNA is one of the important ingredients distinguishing humans from other species.

Researchers in China are reporting development of a new DNA "tweezers" that are the first of their kind capable of grasping and releasing objects on-demand.

Researchers are developing a DNA-based vaccine against the dreaded West Nile virus (WNV), which can be transmitted from animals to humans. The unique feature of this vaccine is that it is also effective after onset of the disease, for it has therapeutic properties.

Two biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered the first of a new class of cellular motor proteins that “rewind” sections of the double-stranded DNA molecule that become unwound, like the tangled ribbons from a cassette tape, in “bubbles” that prevent critical genes from being expressed.

Chemistry researchers at The University of Warwick and the John Innes Centre, have found a novel signalling molecule that could be a key that will open up hundreds of new antibiotics unlocking them from the DNA of the Streptomyces family of bacteria.